Summary:
T.S. Eliot's poem "Hysteria" loosely examines the seductive quality of hysteria, through the speaker's descriptions and reactions to a woman companion's laughter. Eliot's famed command of imagery and skillful use of language, along with his use of a level of abstractness, make this poem a work of art.
Hysteria, Eliot's short discussion of a speaker's descriptions and reactions to his woman companion's laughter, examines loosely the seductive quality of hysteria. Conceivably influenced by Freud's psychology publication Studies on Hysteria - incidentally, a work with which the poem is often cited alongside in many further researches into hysteria as a state of mind -, it has also been interpreted as an exploration of female hysteria, a false medical condition that was a popular diagnosis in the Victorian era, due to the association of hysteria with a woman in the poem.
Eliot draws on his famed command of imagery to produce deliciously quirky phrases such as 'accidental stars with a talent for squad-drill' in portraiture of teeth chattering with mirth. The utilisation of the colours pink, white and green draw forth an image of spring and sweet.....
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